San Diego State took measures on Wednesday to ensure the stability and continuity of its baseball program.

Director of Athletics Jim Sterk announced a one-year contract extension for head coach Tony Gwynn and a three-year extension for associate head coach Mark Martinez, who was promoted to executive head coach.

“We want to build on the success of the program and we don’t want to take a step backwards or for people even to think that," Sterk said when reached at his office Wednesday afternoon. "We wanted to continue the momentum that the program has right now."

There has been some uncertainty in the baseball community because of the health-related leave of absence Gwynn began in late March. The university remains committed to Gwynn, who was not available for comment. Although he received only a one-year extension (each of his past four contracts was for three years), a university official likened the situation to SDSU men's basketball coach Steve Fisher, saying as long as Gwynn wants to be the Aztecs' head coach he will be the head coach.

"He’s still on leave," said Sterk. "We’re hopeful he comes back. We want Coach to be part of the program as long as he wants. We’ll just see where it goes from here."

Sterk did confirm that when Gwynn decides he no longer wants to be the coach that Martinez will become the Aztecs' next head coach.

"That's the plan. Yes," said Sterk. "Mark’s been here a long time. This past year has been a trial, if you will, of going through a lot of challenges as far as managing the program and working with Tony’s absence and all. I think he’s done an excellent job and deserves that opportunity and has effectively done that the past year. That’s why we’re making this move now."

Martinez's change in title reflects a greater role with the program.

"We wanted to change the title to make sure that people knew it’s a step further for Mark," said Sterk. "He’s deserved that and he is effectively running the program right now in Tony’s absence. So we wanted to make sure that people knew that, that the current team and future players know who they will be playing for in the future."

Gwynn's current three-year contract was set to expire at the end of the month. He has been the Aztecs' head coach for the past 12 years after a 20-year Hall of Fame career with the Padres. SDSU has finished .500 of better in five of the past seven seasons and made the NCAA Tournament three of the past six years. Gwynn is 363-363 for his career.

"I am thrilled that Tony and Mark will continue to lead our program," Sterk said in a school release. "Tony has done a good job of elevating the program during his tenure at SDSU and Mark is one of the main reasons we have enjoyed our recent success. I look forward to continuing to build San Diego State into a national baseball power."

The Aztecs finished 42-21 this season and won the Mountain West Tournament for the second season, marking back-to-back seasons in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1990-91. Martinez has been instrumental in that success, and the university wanted to assure that he would remain integral to the program.

Martinez, 52, has been with the program the past nine years, following 17 years as an assistant coach with New Mexico.

"I'd like to thank Coach Gwynn and Jim Sterk for giving me this opportunity to remain at San Diego State," Martinez said in the release. "Tony's work here over the years has laid the foundation and given the program the opportunity to achieve success on and off the field. His main focus has been stability and this new contract will help ensure that stability and continuity in the coaching staff. I appreciate his faith in me as we continue toward building the program into a national power."

Martinez, who was reached as he arrived on campus Wednesday morning, acknowledged the importance of addressing the program's coaching situation as they head into the summer.

“It stablizes the program," said Martinez. "It definitely helps with the kids who are committed to our program and the kids who are coming into our program. ... In the core group that’s coming back they need to feel like there’s stability, so they’re not out there playing summer ball wondering who’s going to be coaching them when they come back.

"That’s a huge thing because they feel like they’ve done a really good job of laying a foundation for a pretty good baseball program. And they want to make sure that part of that foundation is the coaching staff. It’s the players first, but on top of that is having coaches who are going to be here long-term while they’re still here.”

There have been challenges for Martinez in Gwynn's absence, but Martinez said it is made easier by keeping in mind the ideals Gwynn has instilled in the program.

“It’s a challenging dynamic at times when you’re not really the head coach and you’re being asked to make head coach decisions when Tony’s not available," said Martinez. "Those are challenging times, but more of it is making sure that I’m doing right by what he wants. I think we’ve done that as a coaching staff, trying to maintain what he demands — do it the right way, do it with class and be a first-class program.

“Our coaching staff has latched on to those ideals and those core values that Tony demands in our program. We feel like we’re doing it the right way."

Sterk's next priority will be keeping assistant coach John Pawlowski, a former head coach at Auburn who was hired as SDSU pitching coach last summer.

"He’s been offered a couple year contract as well," said Sterk. "We’ll be addresseing that at a later time, but he’s also someone we want to retain as well. He’s an excellent coach.”